Law-Abiding ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – The elements of the Fantastic Beasts franchise that work at all are the ones most closely connected to the larger world of Harry Potter that enchanted the hearts and minds of millions in the first place. In “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” it’s ostensible main character Newt Scamander demoted to supporting character while Dumbledore is front and center.

After dropping in for only a handful of scenes in the first two films, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) is all over this movie and is the driving narrative force of this installment. That’s not a bad thing since the film pivots towards the most interesting element, and the only reason anyone gives two licks about anything that happens here … and Law gets the character just right.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Dumbledore needs Newt (a shuffling and embarrassed looking Eddie Redmayne) and his band of accomplices because the bond between him and Grindlewald (Mads Mickelson) won’t allow him to move against him himself. The series brings back Callum Turner as Newt’s brother in the Ministry of Magic and Jessica Williams as professor Eulalie Hicks, but unfortunately also brings back Dan Fogler as the befuddled Muggle baker Jacob Kowalski. Williams is the only one who has a morsel of an interesting character to work with, and although it’s cut down from previous installments there’s still too much of Dan Fogler’s Muggle mugging for my taste.

Grindlewald is out to change the world and eradicate Muggles once and for all so Wizards can take over completely. Ezra Miller’s troubled Credence seemed at first to be the lynchpin of this plan, but here he’s just a gloomy mope on the sidelines trying and failing to make Grindlewald proud. He has his own big secret, but the revelation is more of a shrug than a wow.

Mads Mikkelson takes over for Johnny Depp and adds some of that emotion-free ruthlessness to the role of Grindlewald … for those who don’t remember from four years ago, he’s this series arch villain. Mikkelson is an improvement over Depp’s sometimes overly affected mustache twirling, and the relationship between Grindlewald and Dumbledore – which was strongly hinted at previously – is made more explicit here. Fleshing out the family melodrama, we also get a little more Dumbledore history with the introduction of his brother Aberforth (Richard Coyle).

Mads Mikkelson Takes Over as Grindlewald
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

The script is a bit of a mess involving half baked detours, as all the team goes in separate directions pursuing separate plans in hopes of confusing Grindlewald into not knowing what is really going on … this is not exactly the intricately plotted affair we’re used to from J.K. Rowling. This all leads up to a Wizard election on a sacred Temple Mount involving a mythical creature who will choose the next leader. Potter veteran director David Yates makes everything look at home with the Potter universe, and the stylistic allusions to history are all in plain sight, but that doesn’t mean we actually care about what’s going on.

Although this third installment is an improvement, I still feel like overall this is an exceedingly minor enterprise which ultimately doesn’t add up to much. And unless you’re a die-hard Harry Potter fan (or a Warner Bros. Executive) desperate for new content, even tangentially related to the larger Wizarding world, the series has yet to create much of anything that can stand on its own.

By SPIKE WALTERS Contributor HollywoodChicago.com spike@hollywoodchicago.com